Integrating XV-2020 sound module in the setup

M

mattrick00

New member
I am trying to achieve the following setup:

- play from my Yamaha P-90 keyboard
- pull voices/sounds from my Roland XV-2020 sound module
- record in GarageBand on my MacBook Pro (OS X 10.11.5)

Is this possible with MIDI?

So far, I have been able to set up my keyboard (using a Roland UM-ONE MIDI interface) to record in GarageBand, but when I introduce the XV-2020 in the mix, then it's a no-go. Does the XV-2020 require special drivers still? I can't find any drivers that will work with any recent OS X on the Roland website. If I need to set it up as just an audio signal going to the laptop, I suppose I could do that, but I'd much prefer to have the MIDI functionality.

Here are the ports on all the various components:
Yamaha P-90
In/Out 5-pin MIDI

Roland XV-2020
In/Out/Thru 5-pin MIDI
USB

MacBook Pro
USB
Firewire
Thunderbolt

In addition to the drivers question for the XV-2020, I'm also unclear exactly how to cable everything, so any advice on how to hook everything up would also be most appreciated.

Thanks much!
Matt
 
You would benefit from getting an audio interface that includes 5pin midi.

Having done this, there are a number of ways of doing what you want, but I do this:

Keyboard midi out to interface midi in
Interface midi out to roland midi in
Roland audio out to interface audio in
 
Thanks for the reply! I am really a newbie at this, so that raises some more questions:

"Keyboard midi out to interface midi in
Interface midi out to roland midi in"
Is that different from just going directly keyboard midi out to roland midi in?

"Roland audio out to interface audio in"
From there how do I connect with the computer?
Is that different from just going directly Roland audio out to computer audio in?
If I use audio ports, won't I lose the MIDI information?

Sorry for the amateur questions.

Matt
 
If you are thinking of recording on an ongoing basis, and hope to achieve reasonable results, you seriously need to get an audio interface. This takes the place of your on-board sound, and is designed specifically for quality recording.

As well as accepting audio inputs (such as the line out of your Roland), you can get them with midi inputs and outputs. The interface connects to your Mac via USB, firewire or thunderbolt (depending on the interface).

mattrick00 said:
"Keyboard midi out to interface midi in
Interface midi out to roland midi in"
Is that different from just going directly keyboard midi out to roland midi in?
Click to expand...

It is different, but that's another way you can do it: keyboard midi out to roland midi in. The roland audio out to computer audio in. (Or, if you had an interface, from Roland audio out to interface audio in).


mattrick00 said:
"Roland audio out to interface audio in"
From there how do I connect with the computer?
Click to expand...
You connect an interface via USB or whatever connection the interface uses.

mattrick00 said:
Is that different from just going directly Roland audio out to computer audio in?
Click to expand...
Yes. By going via an interface you get better recording quality and better recording options.

mattrick00 said:
If I use audio ports, won't I lose the MIDI information?
Click to expand...
Yes. If you go keyboard >midi> module > audio> computer you lose the midi data.

That's the benefit of a midi-capable interface.

The path would be more complicated:

keys > midi > interface > computer > interface > midi > module > audio > interface > computer.

The advantage is that you can record your midi in the Mac, edit the recorded midi to fix up mistakes. Then when you are happy, play it back through the Roalnd and record the audio.
 
Great. Thanks for all this! Making more sense to me now, I think.

I do have a simple MIDI interface - a Roland UM-ONE, which has 1 MIDI in and 1 MIDI out connector with a USB. Even if it's less than ideal, for the moment, could I go: keys midi out > sound module midi in > sound module midi out (with UM-ONE) to computer USB (leaving the UM-ONE midi in connector unused)?

OR, since the sound module has a USB port, could I go: keys midi out > sound module midi in > sound module USB > computer USB?

Matt
 
mattrick00 said:
Great. Thanks for all this! Making more sense to me now, I think.

I do have a simple MIDI interface - a Roland UM-ONE, which has 1 MIDI in and 1 MIDI out connector with a USB. Even if it's less than ideal, for the moment, could I go: keys midi out > sound module midi in > sound module midi out (with UM-ONE) to computer USB (leaving the UM-ONE midi in connector unused)?

OR, since the sound module has a USB port, could I go: keys midi out > sound module midi in > sound module USB > computer USB?

Matt
Click to expand...

Both those scenarios will work. They will allow you to record the midi after its been through the sound module. But both will require you to feed the audio output of the module into something so that you can hear it.

The second will allow you to monitor the results of your recording. You would direct the DAW to send the midi back out the USB to the module.

Another routing possibility is to go: keys > midi > UM-ONE midi in > USB > computer > USB UM-ONE midi out > midi > sound module
 
Hello,

You've been given some totally valid information, but a couple of things have not been spelled out as much as maybe they need to be.

Firstly, the Roland box is a standard sound module, and this receives midi instruction from keyboard or computer, creates sounds from it's own electronics, and outputs audio. It does not interact directly with the garageband system. There would be no point in it doing so, you would use the Roland box because you WANT the sounds it creates.

The garageband system would appear to be, in some regards, a virtual sound module in its own right, as well as having more general sequencing functions. You could create music without using the Roland at all. However, I assume that the GB system will record midi instruction send from the keyboard (or entered in 'step-time' within GB. You could therefore record midi into GB, and then use GB to play some of that information via the virtual sound module facilities of GB, and also send other information again via midi to the Roland box, whereupon the various units WOULD become an integrated system.

Most units have a limit as to how much midi information they can cope with at once, also many sounds will be better on one unit than they are on another. You could also 'fatten' up a particular sound by playing the same midi data on both units. If you recorded midi data onto - say - 10 channels within GB, you could then set GB to respond to data on - say - 5 of those channels, and set the Roland box to respond to data on the other 5 channels, and then output the combined audio data as appropriate. You could then have your final output using the best features of both GB and the Roland.

Note that recording the midi data, and recording the audio output, are two totally separate things, although GB may in fact be able to do both?

Geoff
 
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